Animal Instincts, Fire's Dance
by xkaichoux
Summary: Hao never would have expected a wolf to go crashing through his camp, and he certainly didn't expect said wolf to turn into a foul mouthed animalistic girl. She perks his interest, so he lets her stay, even if it is against her will. HaoXoc
1. Chapter 1  Wolf

**Animal Instinct, Fire's Dance**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own shaman king, just my oc.**_

_**Warning: swearing, nudity, violence and funny bits =]**_

_**Side note: This is one of the stories I started about a year ago and then forgot about. But since I like the plot I'm gunna carry it on and upload it here =] This was actually 2 chapters originally but I figured the 1**__**st**__** was too short so I added the second to it. Hope u guys like it!**_

Chapter one - Wolf

Night had fallen over the forest. The moon was hidden by thick swelling clouds, dark grey and menacing. No natural light would penetrate through the treetops tonight. A lone black wolf sped through the trees, her blue eyes piercing the darkness that concealed her in shadows. She had just caught the faint scent of smoke coming from the north, and where there was smoke, there were people. She could see the small flicker of fire light dancing between the trees and slowed her pace; she didn't want a single sound to give her away. The sweet smell of cooking meat reached her nose, and she could feel her mouth water. It had been a while since she had been anything other than a wolf, and even longer since she had eaten any cooked meats. But she would wait, would be patient, watching the group until the best moment to strike. Her stomach grumbled impatiently and she growled at it to be quite, she would be eating her fill soon enough. Lingering silently in the shadows, she watched them as they talked quietly amongst themselves around the fire, or putting up tents for the night. Twelve she counted, there were twelve people in total that she could see, but she was certain that there were more inside the few tents already up. That wasn't a problem, she had stolen from a larger audience than that, and had gotten away without a problem. This time would be no difference. She paid particular interest in the large guy sat by the fire with a huge steak on a plate in his lap. He would be her target.

Hao sat by the fire while his followers set up camp. He watched the fire dance, and it reflected into his deep browns eyes, making them glow menacingly. His face was a blank mask hiding his emotions, but he was anything but emotionless. He was mad. His brother was still wasting his time around his friends and still hadn't made it to patch village. He couldn't understand how his other half could be so weak. It was true that Yoh was progressing, but he was doing so at an excruciatingly slow rate.

_'Maybe I should give him a push' _he thought evilly, a slight smirk crossing his lips. A branch snapped in the forest and his eyes flickered towards the sound, instantly scanning the area.

_'Shit, that guy heard me.' _He heard someone think, _'should I run for it or dive in anyway?'_

Confusion crossed his face, it didn't make sense, the thoughts were clearly human, but the only thing close by was a wolf. Could it be...?

'_Aw screw it, I'm getting that steak.' _He heard the thoughts again in his mind. That was the only warning he had before a flash of black streaked across camp.

"My steak!" Billy cried, realizing that his plate was empty. He looked around desperately, before his eyes rested on the black wolf standing across camp looking back at him expectantly with piercing blue eyes, Billy's steak dangling from its jaws. His face hardened into a glare.

"Stupid fucking mutt! Gimme back my steak!" Billy yelled charging towards it.

'_Come and get me you fat bastard!' _Hao heard the wolf laugh in its head before it dashed off between the trees.

_'Interesting...' _Hao thought, getting to his feet. His followers watched, waiting for his command, all but Billy who had gone chasing after the wolf.

The wolf ran through the woods, a blur to any creature that caught a glimpse of her fly past. The fat guy was faster than she thought, but she had still lost him long ago. Eventually she stopped, scanning her surroundings for any sign of life, before deeming it utterly still. She held her head high, the steak still dangling from her jaw as she sat on the cold hard ground. Gently, she set the steak down on the floor and stood back up. She stretched, arching her back before relaxing the tension from her muscles and beginning the transformation. Her bones cracked sickeningly, as if they were all being pulled out of the joints. And slowly her body reformed. Her back arched, clicking into place as she stood up on her hind legs. The fur on her back slowly melted beck into her the smooth cream of her skin that shone through the darkness. Her muzzle pushed back into her face, changing into the well sculpted shape of her nose, and her full cherry blossom lips. The fur from her head grew, tumbling down into a cascade of thick black locks that went well down her back. Her paws shaped into her hands and feet and she stood tall, her dark lashes opened, and she glancing around with deep ocean blue eyes, taking in her surroundings with the same clarity as if she were standing in sunlight. The wind whipped across the perfection of her naked body, sending a shiver down her spine and a smile curved the corner of her lips. She sat down on the ground, picking up the steaming steak with both hands and bringing it to her mouth. Just as she was about to take a bite, fire burst from out of nowhere, and a man stepped out of the flames. She jumped back, instantly crouching into a defensive position and snarled. It took a few seconds before she realized that she wasn't exactly in the right form to be fighting, and that the mysterious person hadn't attacked, just stared at her curiously. Slowly she straightened up, not once taking her eyes off of the stranger of fire.

Her guard was up. She recognised him from the camp as the one who heard her in the trees, but at the time he seemed harmless enough, of course she didn't know that he would be able to catch up to her, or be able to do it in such a flashy way. She looked at him now, taking in his every detail as he was her. He was taller than her; something she couldn't tell when he was sat down in the camp, and his eyes were a warm shade of brown, but to her they didn't seem at all that warm. His dark brown hair lay against his back, almost as long as her own, and it gently waved with the midnight breeze. He wore a long cream poncho that went to his knees, and deep red cargo pants. As the wind danced around them she caught a glimpse of his hard chest from under his poncho, and realized that he had no shirt on underneath. He was studying her just as he was him, and as a smirk formed in the corner of his lips, she realized that she was completely naked. She wasn't a self-conscious person in the least; in fact she spent most of her time in wolf form so she didn't have to wear clothes, but she didn't exactly feel comfortable standing naked in front a guy she didn't know. She didn't want to be taken advantage of; not that she was weak, more than she didn't know how strong he was. Her eyes froze to blue ice as she glared at him, resisting the urge to snarl.

"Would you mind warning a girl if you're going to pop out like that?" the girl growled. Even when she was trying to be menacing Hao could hear the musical note in her voice.

_'Fascinating.' _He though, watching the girls lip twitch he caught a flash of white fangs and almost laughed aloud. She was defiantly the wolf from before, their minds were the same. He hid his smirk, she was already getting the wrong idea about him, and he didn't exactly want her to attack him. He wanted to keep her alive, for now at least.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." He apologised, trying to get her to build some sense of respect for him and to quit thinking he was a pervert. He kept his gaze level with hers, resisting the urge to glance down over her perfect body.

"Yeah, well an entrance like that would startle anyone." She spat. He could feel his lip curving into another smirk.

"I suppose it would." He answered, almost laughing at her answer. "Most people would also find a large black wolf diving through their camp to be startling."

She kept her face composed, but her mind was racing.

'_Shit he knows. What the hell am I going to do now? Should I run for it?' _she thought._ 'I won't have time to transform but I'm still pretty fast in human form. But then if he caught up when I was a wolf there's no doubt he would now.'_

Again he almost laughed. As if she would be able to get away from him now, it was practically impossible, he would be able to kill her before she could blink if he wanted to. But he had to admire her for it; she was smart enough to know she wouldn't be able to leave fast enough.

"Don't worry; I'm not going to do anything." He assured her. She watched him sceptically.

_'I really have to get some clothes on, but I can't do it in front of him he's already seen too much' _she thought, raising Hao's curiosity. What else could she do?

"Okay then. Don't follow me for a sec." She said, slipping behind one of the huge trees that hid her body completely. A few second later she emerged fully clothed in a simple white dress and a moss green hoodie. She tugged at it irritably, feeling more than a little uncomfortable with the material brushing against her skin, but at least she didn't feel so vulnerable, and it was defiantly less restricting than jeans. She didn't wear shoes; she hated how they restricted her feet and made her unable to feel the earth around her.

Hao smiled. It was true she was human (or something to that extent) but she had the mind of an animal. He caught himself thinking that if all humans thought like her he might not be so bent on their destruction.

"So what do you want flame boy?" she said, still glaring at him coldly, but he could hear the slight laughter in her voice. He laughed; she was already giving him a nickname. No one had ever done that. At least not to his face, and definably not 'flame boy.'

"What's your name?" he asked, avoiding the question for the moment. Her eyes narrowed, she knew what he was up to.

"What's yours?"

"Hao Asakura." He answered smugly. She cocked an eyebrow at him, wondering where she had heard that name before.

"Aren't you that big shot shaman guy?" she answered eventually.

He smirked. She really was an interesting human, not many of her kind knew of shaman, and the ones that did knew to fear him. They would not have called him 'that big shot shaman guy'. He could just imagine what Opacho would have said if she'd heard.

"You could say that."

"Huh..."

"What?"

"Aren't you supposed to be this big human hater?"

"That's right"

"So what are to you doing talking to me for?" she said, looking at him questioningly. He smirked. He defiantly didn't expect her to get to the point like that, and he couldn't she an ounce of fear in her thoughts. Defiantly an interesting creature.

"I was curious." Hao answered honestly.

She frowned, "about what?"

"Well I don't think I've ever had a wolf crash through my camp, steal the food, and then turn into a girl before, have you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She insisted stubbornly. His smile faded into an unemotional mask and he stepped towards her, and as if by instinct, she crouch into a defensive position and snarl at him. He stopped and smirked at her.

"I think that's proof enough." He said smugly.

_'Crap' _she thought, straightening up, _'the bastard tricked me.'_

"What's your name?" he asked again, changing the subject yet again.

"I don't have a name."

"Interesting" he said, scanning her thoughts. She was telling the truth, for as long as she could remember she never had a name to call herself by. She had always been alone.

"Come on then wolf." He said, turning around and beginning to walk away.

"What?" she asked in bewilderment.

"I want you to come back to my camp with me." He continued, not bothering to look back.

"I don't want to."

"Do you think you have a choice?"

She snarled at him. How dare he make her choices for her, he wasn't the boss of her. In an instant he had vanished, and before she had time to react, he was up behind her, one hand brushing against her cheek while his free arm wrapped around her waist, holding her against him in an iron grip.

She didn't struggle, she was smart enough not to, and he placed his lips to her ear.  
"Now are you going to come willingly ,or am I going to have to make you?" he laughed, but she could see the real threat behind his words, and no way in hell would her dignity allow her to be made to do anything without it being her choice. He smirked, hearing her answer before she voiced it out loud.

"I thought so." he said, letting her go before she was tempted to try biting his arm off, and walking away into the forest, where she followed silently after.

**So guys what do u think? How is it 4 a first chapter? Lemmie know okay? Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2  Untamed

_**Disclaimer: I don't own shaman king, just my oc.**_

_**Warning: swearing, nudity, violence and funny bits =]**_

Chapter 2 – Untamed 

As they got closer to the camp, and the girl could see the firelight flicking between the trees, she stopped.

"Wait." She called to Hao who was still walking up ahead. He looked back at her and smirked.

"You don't feel comfortable in a crowd?" he said, reading her thoughts. She looked at him questioning.

"How did you know that?" she asked. He shrugged indifferently.

"I can read your thoughts."

She stared at him, completely dumbfounded.

_'So, that means he's heard everything I've been thinking about him this entire time.'_ She thought. Hao nodded.

"Every word of it."

A light smirk pressed the corner of her lips.

"Well in that case, I might as well start thinking aloud." She grinned. "That self centred egotistic bastard, what the hell am I doing following a jerk like him around? I hate people and I especially hate him. I hope he chokes on his next steak the fugly bastard." When she was done ranting she smiled innocently. Hao resisted the urge to laugh aloud. She was defiantly unusual. She was the first person to openly say how she felt (aside from those idiot x laws) without being about to die, and even then it was never that long. Then again if he wasn't curious about her abilities she would have defiantly been dead by now. But he had to admire her courage; she didn't know she was safe and she was still insulting him openly.

"So what does fugly mean?" he said smirking.

"Fuck ugly" she answered, the innocent smile still spread across her face, but her eyes were dancing with mischief.

"Okay then. So why did you want to stop exactly?" he asked.

"If you can read my mind why bother asking?"

"If I did that I would never have a real conversation now would I?"

She frowned at him, getting a little annoyed with his mind games.

"I don't want to be in this form if you're making me go in there." She explained.

"And why not?"

Her frown ___hardened__._ This was getting really irritating. She hated having to explain everything; she hadn't had to in years.

"Being in human form, in a human hating camp isn't exactly very reassuring for me. I'd feel better if I were something else. I'd be able to defend myself better."

"They won't touch you if I tell them not to."

"I'm changing now; watch if you want, I won't give a damn, hell I think it would be funny watching you squirm." She insisted, as the familiar cracking sounds filled the air and she slowly formed back into the large black wolf. Hao watched curiously, seeing the way her bones restructured and fur grew from her skin. Her clothes hung loose over her body and she slipped out of them, leaving them on the floor in a messy heap and turning back to Hao.

"Fascinating...is that the only form you can take?" Hao asked, his eyes glittering with interest.

_'No, I can take others, I just prefer this one.'_ She answered in her head, partly because she couldn't speak and partly because she wanted to see if he really could read her mind.

He nodded, turning away and walking towards the camp. She followed him grudgingly. She really didn't like being in the open, and she definitely wasn't expecting an open welcoming from any of these people. Especially not the big guy.

"I told you not to worry, they won't hurt you." Hao assured her.

_'Are you always going to be reading my thoughts?"_

"It isn't something I can just turn off." He explained, before stepping out into the clearing. An air of confidence surrounding him like a second skin, and all eyes turned to watch his approach. The girl hesitated, lingering in the shadows and out of sight.

"Hao-sama, welcome back!" Opacho cried, running up to him excitedly. The small girl had always been the most supportive of all of Hao's followers, and he trusted her the most. He smiled down at her, as she stopped in front of him, her large eyes gazing up at him happily. "Did you find the wolf Hao-sama?"

"Yes I did. She's here now." He answered, looking back towards the forest, staring at the exact spot she stood. "Come on out wolf." He said, his voice was pleasant enough, but she could hear the command behind it. She growled low, before stepping out from the shelter of the trees and in view of the crowd of shaman. She walked slowly, glancing around the group wearily and keeping her guard up.

"Fucking mutt." She heard the fat guy mumble. She turned on him, bearing her fangs as a loud snarl ripped from her throat. The fat guy stumbled back in shock, tripping over a log and landing flat on his ass. She grinned wolfishly, and padded over to Hao who was frowning at her.

_'What, I wasn't going to do anything. Besides he called me a mutt!'_

"Quit messing around." he said.

'_Of course oh great flame boy.' _she thought sarcastically, He shook his head and turned back to the rest of the group who we sniggering slightly at the fat guy. Opacho stared at the wolf, her large eyes full of wonder.

"Hao-sama." She said, switching her attention onto Hao.

"Yes Opacho?"

"Can Hao-sama talk to the wolf?"

He smiled down at her, "of course I can Opacho."

The little girl gazed up at him in admiration, excitement clear on her face.

"What is it thinking?"

_'I don't think you want to tell her what I'm thinking. I don't think she'd be too happy with me slagging off her precious Hao-sama.' _the wolf thought, glancing at Hao purposely. She had already gotten used to the knowledge that he could read her mind, and didn't really need to think about talking to him in her head, it was practically automatic. He looked over at her, a slight smirk crossing his face before his attention went back to Opacho.

"She thinks I am the most wonderful being in the world, and wants to follow my every whim." He lied.

The wolf growled at him in outrage, screaming at him inside her head.

_'You lying bastard! The hell am I going to listen to you, you egotistic maniac!'_

"Hao-sama, why is she growling?" Opacho said wearily.

"Don't worry Opacho, she's just feeling a little embarrassed. Could you bring her something to eat please." He said, not taking his gaze off of the wolf who was glaring at him viciously.

"Okay!" the little girl replied happily, hurrying off to find some food.

_'Why the hell did you tell her that? I have absolutely no intention of following you so you can just forget it.'_

"I don't think you're in any position to be arguing do you? Besides you said yourself it wouldn't be a good for her to know what you were really thinking." He said, smirking evilly. She growled, wanting so much just to rip the crap out if him, and shake him around like a ragdoll. Hao laughed.

"I wouldn't advise it."

_'Like I care.'_ She growled, lunging at him. He sidestepped her and she landed skilfully on a nearby tree, turning her body and leaping at him again. She almost caught him, but at the last second he dodged, swinging his leg around and kicking her in the side, sending her flying into a large bolder. The camp watched in silence as she lifted herself of the ground, turning to face him again. Her leg was badly damaged, and she was going to be walking with a limp but she pushed the pain from her mind and tried to attack him again. The results were the same no matter how much she tried, she lunged and he either sidestepped or sent her flying. A few minutes later and she was exhausted, but she pulled herself up and shook the dirt from her fur. She winced and collapsed as her leg gave way. Hao smirked and walked towards her, stopping a foot away and crouching down to her level.

"Had enough?" he asked smugly. She growled and snapped at him, but he grabbed her muzzle and pushed her face into the dirt.

"You can't beat me, so why bother trying?"

_'Shut the hell up you bastard.'_

He sighed, and let go, standing up to his full height and glaring down at her with fire burning in his eyes.

"If it wasn't for your skills I would have killed you for that stunt, but if you try it again don't think I'll be so easy on you. Keep that in mind." He said, before turning around and stalking off.

'_Bastard!' _she yelled in her head, hoping he was still listening in on her thoughts. If he was he ignored her and kept walking.

_**Sooooo, what u think? Please review! I think I'll upload 1 more chapter and then go 2 bed, I'm off 2 play tennis with some friends 2moz, should b fun, but staying up late sooo won't help my already suckish co-ordination lol =]**_


	3. Chapter 3  Ocean

_**Disclaimer: I don't own shaman king, just my oc.**_

_**Warning: swearing, nudity, violence and funny bits =]**_

Chapter 3 – ocean

"Here you go wolfie, opacho brought steak." Opacho said happily, placing the plate in front of her. The wolf was sat under the shade of a large tree, feeling safer in the shadows where she was almost invisible to human eyes. It made her curious as to how the little girl had spotted her so fast, but she shrugged it off. Most of the camp had been glaring at her after trying to attack Hao, and Hao himself hadn't come back from where ever he went. Not that she cared; she hated the guy; besides it had only been around ten minutes. She stood up and sniffed the steaming steak, before deeming it safe and swallowing it down. Honestly she preferred eating in human form, but she wasn't willing to show the whole camp what she could do, or make herself vulnerable to an attack. Opacho watched her curiously as she licked her paws.

"Wolfie is pretty" Opacho said happily, taking her buy surprise. For as long as she could remember she had never been called pretty, even in her human form she held the kind of aura that repelled most people, and there she was, being complemented by a small child who should have been afraid of a wolf like her. She gazed at her curiously, walking slowly towards her to get a closer look at the child. Opacho didn't move away like she had expected, instead she smiled happily, stretching her hand out to run her fingers through her thick black fur. She felt her body relax from the child's touch, moving closer and leaning towards her. Her tongue lolled out as Opacho scratched behind her ears, and her mind went blank. Opacho giggled happily, watching the wolf's tail wag.

"Having fun?" Hao said, popping up beside them, a smug smile plastered across his face. At the sound of his voice, the wolf jumped back, snapping out of her trance-like state. She growled low, a warning that Hao wasn't going to pay attention to any time soon. He was still smirking.

"Hao-sama, you should touch wolfie's fur, it's so soft." Opacho said admiringly.

_'Try it and I'll bite your hand off.'_ The wolf growled, bearing her teeth at him. Hao laughed.

"No thank you Opacho, right now 'wolfie' and I have a few things we need to discuss." He said, sniggering slightly at the wolfie part. She frowned at him, a dangerous flash of her ice blue eyes.

"Okay Hao-sama!" Opacho said, running off.

"Come on." Hao said, turning his back to the wolf and walking into the surrounding forest. She frowned, but followed after him.

They walked in silence, getting deeper and deeper into the forest, before Hao thought it was a good enough distance away from the camp. He turned to her.

"I want you to change back into your human form." He said emotionlessly, his face a blank mask but his eyes burned.

_'Why?'_ she asked suspiciously.

"Just do it."

She growled in disapproval. She hated being ordered around, but she didn't have any other choice. He was stronger than she was.

_'Fine, but I'm not doing in front of you.'_ She said, disappearing behind a tree and out of sight. Hao sighed in aggravation. She drove him nuts, no one ever dared to challenge him as she did, and his patients was wearing thin. But at the same time he was still curious about her, wanting to keep her alive.

She stepped out from behind the tree, wearing the same thing she had abandoned in the forest just an hour or so before, only this was clean and all in one piece. That was another thing Hao was curious about. She clearly hadn't brought any clothes with her, so how did she have them now? He was determined to get some answers, whether he had to force them from her or not. She strode towards him, her hips swaying gently from side to side in a motion of feminine grace, and her long midnight hair dancing in the wind. She stopped just in front of him and folded her arms across her chest, her delicate features set into a frown.

"So, what do you want?" she asked, a mixture of harmonious notes forming the sound of her voice.

Hao felt himself smirking. It was no wonder why she felt safer in her wolf form; she just looked so breakable as a human, like a china doll.

'_A perfect specimen of woman.' _Hao caught himself thinking, but he mentally shook the thought from his mind. No, she wasn't delicate. Far from it in fact, she was wild and foulmouthed. Although she had the voice of an angel, her words were anything but angelic. Her beauty was just a ruse to capture the hearts of men before she struck, that was all. She was a siren, nothing but demonic.

"Well?" she asked again, pulling Hao from his thoughts. He looked at her, gazing into the pure blue of her eyes, before a frown set across his own face and his eyes turned cold.

"I want you to tell me everything you can do, every power you have, and why you were out on your own in the woods at night." He said.

"Why should I? She challenged. She didn't want him knowing about her, it was none of his business as far as she was concerned, and until today she had never even met him before in her life. Why should she trust him with the secrets she had never told anyone?

"Because if I know you can be of some use, I might let you live." He threatened. She felt a shiver run up her spine, and knew instantly that he meant every word, and was strong enough to back it up. She had a feeling that she had barely scratched the surface of his power in their last fight. But of course her pride would never let her give in so easily.

"Who the hell do you think you are? god? You're not the boss of me." She said stubbornly. She didn't have chance to blink, he had moved so fast, grabbing her throat and slamming her against the rough bark of a tree. A gasp escaped her throat, as pain coursed through her back. She knew it was a mistake changing into a human, and now she was paying the price. Her ice blue gaze flickered up to meet the burning flame of his brown, in an attempted threat, but they both knew it was pointless to resist. He leaned in, an inch off her face and smirked devilishly. She could feel his hot breath brushing against her lips and instantly her body tensed.

"Now," Hao said, his gaze not once leaving hers, "are you going to tell me?"

Her mind was screaming every known insult she could think of and how she wanted to say them to his face, but she looked down in submission. He let her go, stepping back to create some space between them. She could feel her legs wobbling underneath her, but she refused to collapse for a second time and forced herself to stand up straight.

"Well?" Hao said, mocking one of her previous remarks. She glared at him and turned, walking away from him to sit down on log not too far away. She didn't want to be standing through her explanation, she had a feeling that Hao wanted more than just a few details. He followed her, leaning against a tree trunk not too far away. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to settle the hate twisting her stomach into knots. When she lifted her dark lashes, her eyes were cold, emotionless.

"You already know about my shape-shifting, other than that there isn't really much more that I know of." She began watching Hao for any sign of reaction. There wasn't one, and she continued. "I'm stronger and faster than a normal wolf when I'm in that form, and my hearing, sense of smell, and eye sight are impeccable. It's the same with every creature I turn into. I can also create things from the air."

Hao's eyes flashed with curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"Well... if I think about something I need, really concentrate, I can feel the air shit around me, it just sort of materialises out of the air. When I open my eyes it'll be there."

Hao looked at her curiously, staring at her in silence. There was something very familiar to that description, but he just couldn't place it. She frowned.

"What?" she snapped.

"... why where you in the forest?" he said, changing the subject.

"I'm part wolf, what did you expect?"

"Shouldn't a little human like you be at home with your parents or something?" he retorted, getting seriously annoyed with her bitchy attitude. Hao caught a glimpse of sadness hidden in the deep pools of her eyes, before she quickly averted her gaze. Immediately he regretted his harsh words.

"Should I? ...I don't remember..." she muttered, more to herself than anyone, but he caught it. His heart clenched in his chest, a feeling he was completely unfamiliar with. He didn't like it, but he didn't like seeing her sadness either. He stood up, walking over and stopped in front of her. He held his hand out to her and she looked up at him, her blue eyes damp, shining in the moonlight that broke through treetops.

"Come on, we should get back to camp. We'll be travailing tomorrow so you'll need your rest." He said, hiding his expression under an emotionless mask. She looked back to his hand, and hesitantly took it, letting him pull her up off the log. She was suddenly feeling tired, and didn't bother trying to argue about travailing with him. She knew she would lose anyway. He dropped her hand and started walking, and she followed close behind, ignoring the aching feeling in her back, it wouldn't take long to heal. Her leg was already feeling better, for normal people that would have taken a day or more. It was something she had forgotten to mention to Hao, but then it never seemed something that important to her, she had always been able to do it. Hao stopped, silently turning back around to face her.

"You know, I just thought that I need to think of a name for you. I can't exactly call you wolf forever." He said.

"Wouldn't make a difference to me, as long as you don't call me mutt I don't really care." She answered indifferently. Hao laughed slightly, before becoming thought full once more and staring at her. She could feel herself becoming uncomfortable under his gaze. He looked her over, until his eyes met her ocean blues, and it came to him. A light smile curved his lips.

"Kaiyou." He said, "That's your name."

"Kaiyou? That means ocean right?" she asked, and he nodded. "Why'd you want to call me that?"

He turned away from her and started walking away.

"Because of your eyes..." he muttered, thinking for a moment that he was unable to hear him, until he heard her mind wonder. He had forgotten about her good hearing already. She smiled gently, something that if Hao had seen would have made his heart jump in his chest, and followed after him.

_**Okay, this is the last chapter 4 tonight. Might add some more 2moz tho =] u know the drill, please review!**_


	4. Chapter 4 Desert

_**Disclaimer: I don't own shaman king, just my oc.**_

_**Warning: swearing, nudity, violence and funny bits =]**_

_**Note: yay thank you awesome people who reviewed! I love you guys =] btw if u have any questions about anything feel free to ask, I'll be happy to answer as long as it don't give away too much of the story =] luckily this is one of the few stories that I've written where I actually know how it's going to end, it's just a matter of getting to that ending lol.**_

Chapter five – Desert 

Kaiyou awoke the next morning on the hard ground outside Hao's tent. The sun glared in her sensitive wolf eyes and she growled irritably. She stood up and stretched, digging her claws into the hard earth. The camp was silent. No one was awake other than her, and she took that as a chance to go out and get some breakfast. Without a sound she padded into the surrounding forest, and greeted the darkness with open arms.

By the time Hao awoke it was about nine in the morning, three hours later than he was used to waking up. He breathed in deeply, catching the fresh sent of moss and trees. For some reason he felt happy and relaxed, something he was defiantly not familiar with. He got dressed and stepped out of his tent, feeling the welcoming sun lighting his face. Most of his followers were already awake; yet another thing that was different to him, he had always been the first one up every morning. Opacho came running up to him, a beaming smile spread across her face.

"Hao-sama!" she called, "did Hao-sama sleep well?"

He smiled at her lightly.

"Yes thank you Opacho." He answered. He looked around for Kaiyou, and frowned when he didn't see her.

_'She didn't run off while I was asleep did she? Damn that girl, if she has she will pay for it.'_

He tried to keep his voice even when he turned back to Opacho; he didn't want her to know that he was mad.

"Opacho, where is Kaiyou?"

"Kaiyou?"

"The wolf."

"Opacho has not seen her, Hao sama." The little girl answered, sensing the uprising tension in the air. Hao's frown deepened for a moment, but he visibly relaxed when he saw a dark shape moving through the trees towards the camp.

Kaiyou padded into the clearing, a dead rabbit clamped in her jaw. Usually she would have eaten where she caught it, but she thought it would be funny to see the camps expression as she ate. She slumped down in the dirt, in clear view of everyone, and tore at the rabbits flesh. The three girls in the group went pale, and Billy looked like he was going to be sick he was turning that green. Hao was smirking, though she had expected that reaction, but the little girl Opacho was the one who shocked her the most. She was watching curiously, her large button eyes fixed on the wolf and it's meal.

When kaiyou had finished with the meat, she began chewing on the bones. It was a good way to keep her teeth sharp, and the crunching could be heard all across camp.

Hao felt like laughing. She hadn't run away at all. In fact she had wanted to stay, just to gross out the camp. He walked towards her, all eyes in the camp on him, except for the wolf who was still chewing on bones. She ignored him, not bothering to look up or even acknowledge he was there at all.

_'Maybe if I ignore him, he'll just go away.' _She thought.

"Don't count on it." He said.

She looked up at him, blood stained her mouth and she shot him a predator's smile.

_'I was hoping you'd take the hint.'_

"We're heading towards the western desert today, are you ready to leave?"

_'I can't go to the desert, I'd fry!'_

'Then change into something more comfortable, like a camel." He smirked.

'_Great, then I can spit on you.'_

"Or we could make you carry the luggage."

_'I am NOT being a camel.'_

"Well your coming with us no matter what form you take. I suggest you change soon though, were leaving in an hour."

_'Yeah yeah, whatever. But if I die it's on your head.'_

"Well don't die then." He said, walking away and back over to Opacho.

Kaiyou had decided to change into a fennec fox as they travelled across the desert, because their abnormally large ears were perfect at keeping the little creatures cool. Unfortunately there were still a few drawbacks. She defiantly wasn't happy with the size of them, and how useless she would be if she were attacked. Hao reassured her that she was perfectly safe, but his word didn't exactly convince her of anything. Another thing was that her fur was still black, and black attracts heat, so she still got pretty hot. That, plus her short stubbly legs, made her tired a whole lot quicker. But being the stubborn creature she was, she refused to give in and admit she was worn out.

Opacho watched her curiously. Kaiyou remembered the little girl's reaction to her when she first saw the new creature following the group, and instantly she knew that the child was at least a little suspicious of her, as was the rest of the group. Opacho turned away from her when she realized that she was beginning to fall from Hao's side and scurried back over to him.

"Hao-sama?" she asked, waiting patiently until he looked down at her before continuing, "What happened to the wolfie?"

He smiled at her before glancing over at the tiny Kaiyou who was glaring at him with the same ice blue eyes that should have chilled his skin.

"Wolfie is now a _little _fox" he answered, putting emphasis on the 'little' part. Opacho spun around to look at her, watching the black fox pad silently across the sand, and smiled.

"Can wolfie change shape?" the little girl asked, pulling her attention back to Hao, who was still smiling mischievously to himself.

"Yes, she can." He answered.

_'Thanks for saying it out loud, now the whole frigging camp knows about it.'_ Kaiyou thought.

"Well now that they know you may as well take your true form." he continued walking as he spoke, thinking that it wouldn't be the best idea for her to see his grin.

_'You bastard, you planned this didn't you?'_

"And why would I do that?"

_'How should I know? I can't read minds unlike some egotistic maniacs around here. Well you can forget it anyway; I'm not showing your little pawns my human form.'_

"Fine, but you must be pretty hot like that right? With all that fur after all. And aren't you're stubby little legs getting tired?"

The camp were listening intently to the one side argument of the argument that they could hear, wondering what on earth the small fox was if it could change its form and what Hao wanted it for. Everyone was curious about the creature's 'true form', at least everyone but Hao, who had seen it before.

_'Well the more tired I get the slower you all have to go. Unless of course you want to leave me behind?'_

"Or I could just get Billy to carry you." Hao smirked evilly.

_'There is no way I'm going to let that fat bastard carry me, I don't wanna be his lunch!'_

He laughed aloud, and Billy looked at him suspiciously till Hao glanced over at him and the man quickly shifted his gaze.

_'Besides I don't want to be seen naked by a group of complete strangers.' ____Continued Kaiyou stubbornly._

"I'm not a stranger." Smirked Hao.

_'No you're just the freaky pyromaniac who kidnapped me and is making me follow your brain dead groupies, all of which happen to hate humans, something that I AM!'_

"No need to yell, I'm getting a head ache."

_'_If_ you don't like it then don't read my thoughts you weirdo!'_

"Okay that's it." He said, stopping suddenly and turning on her, flames dancing in his eyes and his face hard like stone. He lunged forwards and she dodged him, dashing to her left before turning back to face him as he dived for her again. He was slower than usual, and she knew he was just toying with her. She changed into a desert mouse and burying under the sand. But at the last possible second Hao grabbed at her tail and lifted her up in the air. She struggled, squeaking in protest. The camp watched them with wide eyes, mostly from shock, but then there were the ever curious eyes of Opacho, a bright smile lighting up her face.

_'You bastard Hao! Put me down right now! I mean it! Seriously I will kick your ass if you don't let go.' _Kaiyou cried.

"Are you done?" he mocked, smirking at her devilishly.

_'No damn it I am not done!"_

"Too bad, now quit squirming"

_'You may not know this but being hung upside down by your tail hurts!'_

He dropped her onto his hand, and she shook the dizziness from her head, before glaring back up at him.

"Better?"

_'No, put me down.'_

"You're walking too slowly and I want to make it to our destination by sun down, so I'm going to carry you."

_'No way, how do I know you won't do anything to me?'_

"You're in the middle of the desert, surrounded by people that follow me, and in mouse form. Don't you think that I was going to hurt you I would have done it by now?"

_'That still doesn't make me trust you.'_

Hao sighed, and gently lifted her up onto his shoulder as he carried on walking.

"I promise I won't hurt you. For starters I'm letting you close to me, if you wanted to hurt me you'd be in the best position to do so." He explained. He hated having to explain every little thing he did, usually he just did things and no one questioned him. But now he had a strange little human in his group. Someone who didn't trust him in the least, called him names, and certainly wouldn't be willing to lay down her life for him. She was the only person who told it how she saw it, and she was the weakest among them when it came to anything shaman related. But what she lacked in spiritual power she defiantly made up with in wit and cunning; and the mouth to top it off. Hao couldn't understand that although she was everything that should have driven him ballistic; she was also the only one who was safe from his fiery fury. He realized that it wasn't that he couldn't hurt her; it was that he didn't want to. That was defiantly something new to him.

_'Fine, but try anything weird and I'm biting your ear._' She said finally, a small frown on her mousy face.

He laughed "I wouldn't expect anything less. Now get some sleep, I know you're tired."

'W_hat are you my mother?'_ kaiyou thought, but she yawned anyway, a small noise close to Hao's ear. He felt himself smile as she curled up by his neck and using his hair to block out the rays of the sun.

_'I'll sleep, but whatever you do don't drop me.'_

He laughed again. "I won't."

_**So there you have it people! Chapter 4! Hope you liked it. If you do then please review! Haha that rhymed . anywayz, again, if u have any questions go ahead and ask away! Your questions will really make my day! Haha another rhyme! Wow I'm such a nerd lol.**_


	5. Chapter 5 Oasis

_**Disclaimer: I don't own shaman king, just my oc.**_

_**Warning: swearing, nudity, violence and funny bits =]**_

_**Thank you everyone who reviewed! Your all such lovely people! I was really surprised that I would get so many reviews so soon when I'm having a hard time getting reviews for my other stories, but in that case I'm guessing this is one of my better fics, and I will defo be keeping this one going =] I'm glad you like my oc yuudaiSama! I tried not to make her into Mary sue, and I'm happy that she seems not to be. Thanks for saying I write well Ikkona =] it's good to hear considering how long it takes me to actually put the sentences together lol. I tend to do everything really slowly. It's probably why I do so badly in exams lol.**_

_**Anyway, enough of my ramble, on with the story!**_

Chapter 5 - Oasis

"Hey, we're here." Hao said, gently nudging the small mouse resting on his shoulder awake. She twitched her nose and rubbed her eyes with her paws, blinking up at him.

_'Wow' _Kaiyou thought, standing up and stretching.

"What?" Hao asked.

_'You know I never noticed but, your face is even worse close up.'_ She answered looking back at him before shape shifting into a raven and flying off of his shoulder, laughing silently to herself. He frowned.

"You're not a morning person are you?" he called after her.

_'I'm not a morning, day, evening or night person when you're around.'_ She retorted, fluttering to the ground and taking in her surroundings. They were still in the desert; she could see the sand surrounding them, but that wasn't all that was there. A huge lake glistened in the evening sun, surrounded by shrubs and trees. She hadn't realized it when she first woke up, but she was actually quite thirsty. She hopped towards the edge of the lake, and bent her head to drink. The cool water was sheer pleasure to her drying throat and she decided to cool the rest of her off by jumping in, transforming into a black coy fish and swimming happily around the lake.

_'Well since everyone knows what I can do now I can change as much as I want.'_ She thought to herself. She noticed two very large feet close to the bank and grinned inwardly. _'He he, this will be fun'_

Hao was still listening in on her thoughts and knew she was planning something to do with Billy, but wasn't exactly sure what it was. So he left her to it and watched curiously.

Silently she swam towards him, moving so gently that not even a ripple from her movements could give her away. When she thought she was close enough she transformed into a huge black shark, her great head rising up out of the water. Billy screamed in alarm, a high pitch girly sound that made Kaiyou laugh. She rushed forward at him, and watched sheer terror cross his face, and her great form reflecting in the fear of his eyes, before snapping at the air an inch away from his face, and grinned a large toothy green. All of the colour left Billy's face, and he fainted right there in front of her.

Hao smirked as she changed back into her fennec fox form and padded back over to him, a foxy smile spread over her face and triumph shone in her eyes. He chuckled slightly.

"You know that wasn't very nice." He said, trying to sound disapproving, but unable to hide his smirk.

_'Yeah, well I think I've just realized that I'm not a very nice person.'_

He laughed. "Well guess what?" he said, snatching Kaiyou up in his arms and holding her still as she struggled "neither am I" he continued, before smiling evilly and throwing her back into the lake.

She sunk into the water like a rock, before breaking through the surface and coughing up water. She tried to paddle with her tiny paws, but found it difficult considering her wet fur added to her weight. She didn't like the water. She didn't know why since she was fine only a few minutes before, but the whole scene seemed all too horribly familiar. In her panic she hadn't thought of changing into a more water type creature and the water kept going into her mouth as she tried to keep her head above the surface.

Hao watched from the bank, smirking to himself, before he heard the panic in Kaiyou's mind. His eyes widened in shock as he watched the small black fox struggle in the water, her head dunking under once, twice...

_'Shit! I didn't expect her to drown!' _he thought, ripping of his poncho and diving into the lake, mentally cursing himself for throwing her so far away from the bank. He reached her as she dipped under the water for a third time, grabbing her by the scruff of her neck and pulling her up against his chest. She scrambled up to his shoulder in panic and sunk her claws into his flesh as she gripped onto him. He winced in pain but didn't try to pull her off, needing both of his arms to swim back to shore. As he got to the water's edge he was able to stand up freely, and his hands reached up, pulling the small fox into his arms. She was shaking violently, her deep ocean blue eyes open wide as she frantically looked around her. Gently, he smoothed her head, trying to comfort her to an extent. He really hadn't expected her to react so badly when he threw her in the water, he thought she would have just gotten mad at him and tried to chase him around camp, not this.

"It's all right, you're okay, your safe now." He murmured soothingly, still running his fingers across her fur. She snapped her head towards his, fear evident in her eyes before a slight recognition came over her and she began to come to her senses. It was only Hao. She knew he wasn't hurting her, but the water had scared her out of her wits and her head was pounding. She still felt like something similar had happened before, but every time she tried to think about it her head hurt more.

Hao listened to her thoughts, knowing how she was trying to remember something but being unable to with the fear still consuming her. Opacho came running over to the two, concern written all over her little face.

"Hao-Sama is Kaiyou-Chan okay?" she asked.

"She's all right, just a little shook up." He explained. Opacho's wide eyes grew even wider as the little girl looked at her master's shoulder.

"Hao-sama is bleeding!" she cried, pointing towards the deep puncture wounds Kaiyou had left when she clawed him. He looked over at his shoulder, gazing at the crimson liquid trickling down his arm before turning back to Opacho with a reassuring smile.

"It's nothing Opacho, don't worry I'm fine." He answered, feeling a little happy that one of his followers actually cared for his well being, and not just because his power. He could tell the little girl was genuinely worried for _him_. Of course she had also been the one to make him remember the pain but he pushed that though aside as he heard Kaiyou whimper slightly. He turned his attention back to her.

_'I feel so weak, but I can't faint now, not in front of these people. They'd see me.'_ She thought, trying feebly to keep herself awake. _'Hao, please...don't let them see me.'_

He nodded, realizing what and why she was thinking this. Quickly he snatched up his poncho and disappeared in a ring of fire, without a words explanation to Opacho.

Hao took them deep within the forest, many miles away from the desert. It was significantly cooler under the shade of the large pine trees and he knew that Kaiyou would defiantly appreciate that. Just as the two arrived the little fox fell unconscious and automatically reverted back to her human form. Hao knew it was coming, after all she had warned him before, but it still didn't take away the shock that he had a naked girl in his arms. Gently, he laid her down on the soft grass, trying to keep his eyes on her sleeping face and not over her flawless body, before placing his poncho over her. It covered her quite well, something he had counted on considering that it went to his knees, and because she was a few inches shorter than him it blanked her well enough. He lit a fire close by and sat down beside her, waiting patiently for her to wake, up and listening to her dreams.

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_**Well that's it for now guys! I should be updating again sometime soon =] please review!**_


	6. Chapter 6 memory?

_**Disclaimer: I don't own shaman king, just my oc.**_

_**Warning: swearing, nudity, violence and funny bits =]**_

_**Wow, ten reviews already. I love you guys =] Well this chapter is for snoopygirl11! For reviewing and leaving me an email, and 4 being from England! Wooo! Even tho personally I don't think England is the best country ever, especially with everything going on lately, but still, good to hear from someone from my home country lol =]**_

_**Anyway, on with the story!**_

Chapter 7 – memory?

_Kaiyou sat on the water's edge, watching river flow across the planes. She was a child again, the mere age of four and her blue eyes were not the cold icicles they usually were, but filled with happiness. Beside her sat a young boy, four years older than her with the same ocean blue eyes and midnight black hair. He was smiling at her._

_"Hey Kowda, guess what." She said, turning her head to the boy and grinning._

_"What?" He answered._

_"I learned my first aminal today!" she said proudly, holding her chin up in the air. Koda's eyes lit up with excitement._

_"No way, that's so cool!"_

_"Yeah, mommy said that I'm a natuwal...I think"_

_"Wow! What can you do?"_

_"I'll show you." She answered, jumping to her feet and tugging off her clothes. The familiar cracking of bones could be heard as she shape-shifted into a small black wolf pup. The boys eyes grew wide and he grinned._

_"Wow that's so cool!" he cried, watching the pup pad circles around him, her head held high and her tail softly waging. "My first animal was an owl, but they're boring..." he pouted childishly. Kaiyou quickly changed back to her human self and frowned at him._

_"Don't say that, owls are coowl too! They can fly, and they have big eyes that can see reawy good in the dark!" she argued, pulling her clothes back on. _

_"Really?"_

_"Of couwse, owls are the coowlest!" she smiled reassuringly and Koda's own smile lit up his face. "And mommy said the first aminal you turn into is the one you'we most like, so that makes you coow too koda!"_

_"Thanks Sis." He said, giving her a quick hug._

_"Aww how cute, family love." A voice called mockingly. Both children turned around and Koda's eyes went wide with fear, reflecting the image of the young teenage boy who stood before them. He had filthy blonde hair cut short against his scalp, and dark green eyes filled with hate. His lips, scarred at the top where he had obviously gotten into a fight, were twisted into a false smile. The boy was dressed in a simple black shirt and dirty blue jeans matted with mud. He was taller than both of the children, being much older than them, and had beside him two equally tall and dirty friends, both of which looked over at the girl and boy with an evil smirk. Kaiyou scowled at them, her ocean blue eyes freezing over with hate._

_"Go away Kane." She snarled. The blonde boy Kane laughed._

_"Or what, you'll go crying to mommy?" he scoffed, walking towards the two, his friends following behind him. Kaiyou growled and stepped towards them, but Koda pulled her back and pushed her behind him protectively._

_"What do you want?" he asked, frowning._

_"Nothing really, I just wanted to give you this!" Kane's fist lashed out as he punched koda in the face, making the boy stumble back from the blow and fall onto the ground._

_"That's for ratting me out to the chief." Kane spat._

_Koda's hand came up to touch his bleeding lip and he winced in pain. Kaiyou's eyes grew wide, she didn't understand why her brother deserved to be hit, but what she did know was that Kane wasn't going to get away with causing Koda pain. She growled and ran at Kane, attempting to kick him in the shin but he grabbed her foot and lifted her up in the air._

_"Not too polite are you, maybe I should teach you some manners" he sneered, raising his fist to hit her._

_"Leave her alone!" koda cried, getting to his feet. Kane lowered his hand._

_"Worried about her? Well you should be." He said, walking towards the water's edge, still holding the girl by her leg. She struggled, swinging her fists in hopes of hitting him, but to no avail. "Fiery aren't you, well how about we cool you off." He said, holding her out over the rushing river._

_"No don't, she can't swim!" koda pleaded. _

_"Well that only makes things more interesting, dosent it." Kane grinned, before letting go of her, watching her plummet to the waters below._

Kaiyou awoke with a start, beads of sweat lining her forehead as she gasped for air. She could still feel the water around her in a suffocating grip, but she knew it was all in her head. She sat up, wiping away the perspiration with the back of her hand and looking down into her lap. She was confused. Was everything she had dreamt been just that, a dream? Or was it something else? A memory? She wasn't sure, she just couldn't remember. But she knew Koda was familiar somehow, whether he was her brother or not.

Hao had been listening in on her dream and was just as confused as she was. He had recognised the boy from somewhere as well, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. But for now it wasn't important, right now he had to focus on Kaiyou. The temptation of her was becoming unbearable as he noticed his poncho slipping off of her top half as she sat up, exposing the full, creamy swell of her breast. He shook the thought aside and focused on other things. He was curious to see how she made objects appear, but he knew she wouldn't show him voluntarily. He had to make her show him somehow.

"You're awake." He said beside her. She snapped her head towards him and glared ice.

"You!" she cried, whipping her hand out so fast that Hao didn't see it coming until she lashed out against his face, leaving a nasty red handprint against his cheek. He blinked in astonishment and gingerly touched the mark, before his face set into a deep frown. He turned on her, grabbing her wrists and pinning her down on the ground, straddling her waist.

"Get off me!" she yelled, struggling against him.

"You've got some nerve hitting me like that." He snapped, bringing his face closer to hers.

"You tried to drown me!" she spat back.

"I saved your life!"

"_After_ you tried to drown me!"

"It was an accident; I didn't know you were going to sink!"

"You _still_ TRIED TO DROWN ME!"

"You might want to take a look at the kind of position you're in before you start yelling at me."

She glared at him, before looking down at herself, flushing red as she realized that her bare chest was exposed and dangerously close to his. She shot daggers at him, ice cold even with her hot blush.

"Okay, now you really have to get off me." She said, attempting to push him off again before he slammed her back down onto the ground.

"What if I don't want to" He smirked devilishly.

"Hao..." she warned.

"I told you that if you pulled another stunt I wouldn't go easy on you." He said, moving both of her wrists into one hand and holding them above her head, so that his other hand was free to wander. Fear flashed in Kaiyou's eyes, before she took a deep breath and closed them shut, ignoring the fact that Hao's hand was hovering uncomfortably close to her breast. Just as he was about to touch the silk of her skin, clothes flashed onto her body and she opened her eyes, smirking in triumph. He smirked back and climbed off of her, offering his hand to help her up. She frowned at him as realization hit her.

"You wanted that to happen, didn't you." She said, watching him forge a mask of innocence.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh don't play coy with me, you tricked me. You wanted me to show you how I make things appear, but you knew I would refuse if you asked, so you pulled that little stunt knowing I would have no choice." She stated.

"You think know me so well already, don't you?" He laughed.

"All I know is that you're a manipulating pervert." She criticized.

The smirk curved back into his lips as he leaned down to her, so that their faces were at an even level.

"Do you want to know how perverted I can really get?"

She glared at him, whipping her hand around to slap him again, before he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet, laughing lightly.

"Always with the violence, you know it's going to get you killed someday."

"Well let's just hope that when that day comes I can take you down with me."

He laughed again.

"Somehow I can't imagine that happening."

She frowned at him and snatched her arm away, stepping back a good few feet.

"You're really big headed you know that?"

"So I've heard." he answered, slipping his poncho back over his head, before pulling her back towards him and holding her against his chest.

"What are you doing?" she asked, venom lining the harmonious notes of her voice, the voice that sent flames dancing in his stomach. He mentally shook his head.

_'She is a siren, a demon disguised as a human. Her voice only seems compelling so she can lull me into a false sense of security. There is nothing beautiful about her.'_ He thought, scolding himself.

"We need to get back to camp, I'm going to teleport us now." He explained. Her eyes widened in shock and she wrenched herself from his grip.

"Whoa whoa whoa, I am _not_ going back like this." She said, gesturing to her human form. "At least let me change first." She continued, looking back at him for approval. That was a shock. She was asking _him_ for approval? Well okay she didn't say it directly but the thought was defiantly there. He smirked to himself, realizing that she was subconsciously admitting that he was in charge. Took her long enough.

"Be quick." He said. She frowned but nodded, swiftly changing into the small fennec fox that was becoming horribly familiar to her, and slipping out of her clothes. She padded over to him, allowing him to pick her up.

"Ready?" he asked.

_'Yeah' _she answered mentally. He nodded and she took her last glimpse of the forest, already missing it, before the two were consumed by fire and disappeared without a trace.

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_**Well there u have it guys. Please review! I luv hearing wt u think =] it makes me update faster lol**_


	7. Chapter 7 healing

Yay, thanks everyone who reviewed! I love you all, and am sorry I haven't updated sooner, I've been pretty busy lately (nothing new there really). And as a random side note… it's my 18th birthday on Sunday! Yay for me =] anywayz, on with the long overdue story!

Chapter 7 – healing 

As the two appeared in the camp Opacho came running towards them.

"Hao-sama!" she called and Hao smiled at her. She was still worried about his injury.

"Has Hao-sama treated his wounds?"

"I told you Opacho, I'm all right." He told her. She frowned slightly but didn't press on the matter.

"Is kaiyou-Chan okay now?" she asked instead, addressing the small black fox Hao still held in his arms.

"She says she's fine Opacho." He answered for her.

The little girl nodded and happily skipped away, leaving the two alone in an empty camp secluded in nightfall. Hao walked over to the campfire and sat down, watching the flickering flame dance. A cold breeze would have chilled his skin were it not for his natural attraction to heat and ability to manipulate the elements. Kaiyou rested in his lap and his hand gently placed on the soft fur of her back. He wasn't bothering to set her down anytime soon.

_'What did she mean wounds? Did you get hurt?'_ kaiyou asked mentally, ignoring how he was practically holding her in place and grinned a foxy grin at the fire shaman, who frowned back at her. Obviously she found it amusing that the little girl Opacho had been acting somewhat like a mother to him.

"It's nothing; you just panicked and clawed me when I was graciously saving your life." He teased, smirking when kaiyou glared at him.

_'Well good, at least I was able to pay you back for almost __drowning me!_' she snapped.

"I thought you did that when you slapped me after you woke up." He countered.

_'Oh shut up you frigging male!"_

Ha laughed and then they both sat in silence for a moment, until kaiyou spoke.

_'It's still bleeding you know'_

"So?"

_'Well aren't you going to clean it?"_

"No"

_'What if it gets infected?'_

"It won't."

'_Damn it you arrogant idiot! Gahh fine, I'll sort it out myself!'_ she growled, pulling out of his grip and ducking underneath his poncho, to climb up his arm and get to his injured shoulder. He smirked but said nothing, wondering what exactly she was planning to do.

_'Ew this is going to be so gross.'_ Kaiyou thought, lapping at the bloodied puncture wounds and being careful not to be too rough. Hao didn't wince as the sharp pain shot up his arm, instead his smirk grew.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

_'Spit is practically an antibiotic, why do you think animals lick their wounds so much?' _She explained,_ 'but trust me, I'm not liking this one bit so don't get any weird thoughts in your head'_

"If you hate it so much then why bother?"

_'I just don't want to put up with the smell of blood all night, it's annoying.'_

"So you taste it instead." He grinned. She growl at him.

_'Do you wanna do this? If so be my guest.'_

The arrogant smirk on his face was really starting to piss her off, but he didn't say anything so she continued. Hao was actually beginning to enjoy the feel of her tongue running against his skin until she stopped and slipped out from under his poncho, and jumped to the ground. He controlled the urge to frown and kept his face a blank mask without emotions.

_'There, now all you have to do is bandage it up and it should be fine'_

"I don't have any bandages" he said, his smirk returning.

_"Oh for god's sake, you are an idiot! Come on I'll frigging get some."_ She snapped, padding over to Hao's tent and slipping inside. She popped her head out just as he was about to enter. '_Don't follow me for a sec. I need to change.'_

"So?"

_'So I don't want you to see me naked.'_ She spat back.

"Nothing I haven't seen before." He grinned.

_'Oh shut up you pervert! Just stay there.'_ She growled, disappearing back into the tent. A moment later she was changed back into her human form, and was wearing some black shorts and a simple white top that slipped off over her shoulders._ 'okay, you can come in now.'_ She thought, after making some bandages appear in her hand. Hao stepped inside and smirked slightly, subtly looking over her bountiful curves before setting his eyes on her deep ocean blue ones. He could get lost in her eyes.

She frowned at him.

_'Well don't just stand there like a dumb ass, come here.'_ She thought rudely, making Hao snap out of his daydream and scowl back. Boy her mouth could really kill his mood.

"Don't forget who you're taking too." He warned.

_'Don't forget who's patching you up.' _She countered. The two glared at each other for a moment, before kaiyou was tired of their little game.

_'Just come here would you, your still bleeding.'_

Hao frowned, but complied none the less, sitting down beside her and slipping off his poncho. Silently, she began bandaging up his wound concentrating strictly on her task.

"Why aren't you speaking to me" he asked, suddenly, catching her attention.

_'I am.'_

"I meant out loud"

_'I don't want anyone to hear me.'_

"Everyone's asleep, how can they hear you?"

_'I'm just being cautious, you know I don't want anyone to see my true form, they've already seen too much.'_

"...You don't trust us" Hao stated after a pause. She stared at him, dumbfounded for a moment, before smiling briefly. Was she hearing things right, was Hao actually...upset? As soon as the thought came across her mind he glared at her, and she realized it wasn't a good idea to press on the matter. After all, Hao wasn't the type to admit something like that, she knew because she was the same way.

_'I don't trust anyone; I've been alone for so long so why should I start now?' _she asked, continuing with her task.

"You're travailing with us."

_'Not by choice.' _She countered. Hao frowned. He hated her stubborn nature, always arguing with him and causing trouble. They'd only been together for a few days and she was already set to pack up and go. Was he really that hateful? No, he knew it was only because of her unease around people that made her want to leave, that and the heat of the desert. After all he had sensed no fear from her, only a slight weariness of his power. They argued a bit but it didn't mean she hated him, she just didn't like the idea of being dominated by someone she just met, and after all she had a wolf's nature. But it still seriously annoyed him. He didn't want her to be wary of him, didn't want her to think he was untrustworthy. What he wanted was for her to accept him, accept his followers and the life they all led. But could it be possible?

Kaiyou finished bandaging his shoulder and tightened the knot. She was about to stand up when Hao grabbed her wrist. Her head shot up, her eyes telling a mixture of emotions, questioning, confusion, and anger. But she suppressed the latter when she saw the soft look on his face, and the slight sadness hidden behind his dark auburn eyes.

"Do you really hate being here that much?"

She stared at him for a moment, wondering what had possessed him to ask. He already knew that she hated it. The sweltering heat that continuously blazed on her black fur, the soft sand where she felt that she was constantly sinking even though her delicate body was light enough to keep her on the surface, and the constant feeling of being powerless in such a tiny form without a means of defence.; everything about the place was horrible to her. And she hated being such a small fox; it was almost as bad as being human.

"I _hate _the desert." She stated. Hao shook his head.

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" she asked, feeling slightly irritated that he wasn't getting straight to the point already. He looked at her, directly in her deep ocean blue eyes, reading her thoughts and expression. He knew she was slightly annoyed, so he decided not to drag it out much longer.

"I meant do you hate being here with me?" his face became serious as he spoke, and she was stunned into silence.

_'What the hell does that mean!' _She thought frantically, _'I don't hate him, the idiot should know that else I would have tried running by now, I just hate this frigging place. Besides its funny when I get to annoy Billy hehe. But I can't tell him that, his ego's big enough as it is! Wait why is he smirking like that? Oh shit I forgot...'_

"Stop reading my mind!" she yelled aloud, glaring daggers at Hao, who sat there with a smug look on his face. "Damn it you bastard! I need privacy, not you listening in on my every damn thought. You stupid, egotistic, pyromani... why the hell are you laughing? Stop laughing you jerk!" still Hao laughed. "Gahh, that's it!" she cried, tackling him to the floor, kicking and hitting him lightly. Amazingly, Hao was happy about it. She had said that she didn't hate him, and that was good enough. He didn't mind when she hit him because he knew that she was defiantly going easy on him, not actually trying to hurt him too much. Somehow he thought she was trying to play with him, and even though her face was scowling, her eyes were not. She seemed relatively happy. He grinned and easily flipped her over so that he was on top of her, and held her wrists to stop her from hitting him in the face.

"I win!" he smirked. She glared at him, but just as she opened her mouth to say something, Opacho ran inside.

"Hao-sama, Opacho heard shouting, is everything..." the girl began, trailing off as she saw the position her master and a mysterious black hair-blue eyed girl were in.

_**Wooo cliffy =] well u guys know the drill. Rate and review and this time I might even review in the week =]**_


	8. Chapter 8 thoughts

**Wow, sorry about the super long update guys, and thanks for all the reviews! Today I have two chapters to update so yay! Honestly they've been collecting dust on my computer 4 quite some time but as I have so horribly been busy with uni stuff I totally forgot there were even there until I dug them up only moments ago .**

**Anyway, enough of my rambling, on with the story =]**

**Chapter 8** –** Thoughts **

_Shit, this is why I didn't want to speak.' _Kaiyou thought. _'And get off me before she gets the wrong idea.'_ Grudgingly, Hao complied and got up, stepping away from her and towards his small companion.

"It's not my fault you have a big mouth. You didn't have to yell." He said, stopping in front of Opacho and looking over his shoulder at kaiyou.

'_I wouldn't have yelled if you hadn't provoked me!'_

"Sorry Hao-Sama. Opacho didn't know Hao-sama was with kaiyou-chan." The little girl said. For a moment a look of shock crossed Hao's face, but then his trademark smirk curved into the corner of his mouth, while Kaiyou simply stared at her in confusion and complete disbelief. How did she know who she was? Kaiyou was certain that she had never been carless and shown her human form to the girl; had Hao told her?

Hao ignored her accusing thoughts and set his attention onto Opacho, he too was curious as to how the little girl knew someone who should have been a total stranger to her was kaiyou. He knelt down to her level and smiled at her, watching as she smiled innocently back.

"Opacho, how do you know that she is kaiyou?" he asked.

"Kaiyou-Chan has the same heart as kaiyou-Chan foxy." Opacho explained. The two stared at her for a moment. Until Hao's lips broke into a wide smirk.

"Interesting" he said, more to himself than the two girls as he stood up.

'_Wait, what does that mean?'_ Kaiyou asked, a confused frown set on her face.

"It means that Opacho can also read minds." Hao explained, looking down at the small African girl, obviously pleased by the news.

'_...so she can hear me too?'_

"Yes"

'_...no friggin way. Is my mind safe from anyone? Next you're going to tell me that fat ass Billy can read my thoughts too! Does anyone know the meaning of privacy around here?' _she screamed in outrage, being careful not to let her voice slip through her anger like before. She didn't need anyone else seeing her true form, hell she thought that she might as well go running around outside yelling "I'm a shape shifter, I'm the fennec fox!" at the top of her lungs, and then transform in front of a news reporter live on television. How many more people were going to find out? As her thoughts raced through her mind Hao and Opacho couldn't help but listen to the girl silent ranting. Even though Kaiyou knew that they both could hear her, she couldn't help the way her thoughts blabbered on, and for a moment she forgot about them, until she heard Opacho sniff. Kaiyou looked down at her and saw that the little girl was looking back at her, her eyes all big and watery, and her lip quivering as she sniffled.

'_...Shit.'_

"kaiyou-Chan is mad at Opacho?" she mumbled, holding back her tears.

'_...Double shit.'_

Kaiyou smiled weakly, crouching down to Opacho.

"I'm not mad at you Opacho," Kaiyou said quietly, unintentionally dazzling the little girl with her voice, "It's just that I don't like people knowing too much about me. I don't normally have people close to me." She explained, watching the little girl's eyes sparkle, and a large smile spread across her face.

"So, Opacho is close to Kaiyou-Chan?" she asked, catching Kaiyou off guard.

"Uhh..." she didn't know how to answer, because she didn't know herself. After all she had only been with the group for a few days, and she had never been around people long enough to get close to them. But then she would be lying if she said they weren't at least growing on her. Unfortunately her lone wolf personality would never let her admit that. Hao smiled, Liking the idea that they were getting to her, even if he knew she would never tell them straight out. Instead of leaving her to ponder over her thoughts however, he changed the subject.

"Opacho, it's late and we all need some sleep." He said. Opacho smiled and nodded, knowing just as well as Hao what Kaiyou had been thinking.

"Okay!" she chimed, taking it as her cue to leave and skipping to the entrance of the tent. "Goodnight Hao-sama, Kaiyou-Chan"

"Goodnight, Opacho." Hao answered with a smile.

"Yeah...goodnight." Kaiyou mumbled awkwardly, watching the little girl skip out of the tent and leaving her alone with Hao. He turned to her, grinning smugly.

"So you don't hate being with us after all huh?" he smirked, watching the shock cross her face before she scowled at him.

"I never said that." She denied, crossing her arms against her chest.

"No but you thought it."

"I think a lot of things, it doesn't make them true."

"So you were lying?"

"Yes."

He smiled, knowing full well that she was only defending her pride, rather than telling the truth of what she felt. _'Women' _he thought, shaking his head. He never could understand them, but this girl was even more confusing, even thought it was surprising how alike they really were. She may not admit that she was becoming attached to them, but he defiantly knew that he was getting attached to her. But then, he too would never truly admit it out loud. Instead he sat down on his sleeping bag and looked up at her.

"We really should get some sleep" he said, noticing the tiredness in her eyes. She nodded, and just as she was about to leave the tent he grabbed her wrist.

"I didn't say you had to leave."

She stared at him in confusion for a second, but then realized what he meant and glared ice cold daggers at him.

"I am not sleeping with you." She growled.

"I'm not going to do anything if that's what you think."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is?" he countered, noticing the pause before she spoke.

"What if someone else came in, how would you explain it?"

"No one will come in." He answered confidently.

"Opacho just did."

"Yes, but she's the only one that would dare to. Everyone else knows not to disturb me."

Kaiyou glared at him sceptically.

"Trust me." He said, letting his voice soften. She wanted to trust him, but after having no one to trust for so long she wasn't sure. After all, what could he gain if she did stay, there had to be something... right? He smiled at her encouragingly, realizing her hesitation, and gently pulled her down beside him. He was pleasantly surprised when she didn't resist and his eyes softened as he lay down. She glanced down at him, still feeling confused.

"You really won't do anything?" she asked, almost in a whisper.

"I promise." He answered, giving her a serious look that showed her he meant it. She hadn't realized how tired she was until that moment, and she forgot all about her worries and doubt. But then she still kept her distance as she lay down beside him in a wave of exhaustion. He chuckled slightly and pulled her closer to the warmth of his body.

"What are you-?"

"You'll get cold if you stay over there." He interrupted. She sighed, feeling too tired to argue. For once in her life she actually felt safe, and if she wasn't so sleepy that probably would have worried her, but since she was she didn't give it a second though as she drifted into slumber. Hao smiled, wrapping an arm around her waist and breathing in the soft, earthy sent of her skin. He loved her smell, like she was as close to nature as he was.

'_What am I thinking, she's a human! Or something close to it at least. But she is defiantly not a shaman. What has this woman done to me? ' _he frowned to himself, but his face softened when he looked at her sleeping face, so calm and relaxed. His finger traced across her delicate cherry blossom lips and longing slammed into his gut. He wanted her so badly it was unnatural. After all he had only known her for a few days, how could he feel so much for someone he barely knew. But then, he did know her. He had been in her mind enough to know that she was different, not only from her power but in her mind as well. That didn't change the fact that she was human though. Against his better judgment he leaned into her, gently pressing his lips against hers, instantly feeling his stomach flip and a burst of pleasure run through him. It shocked him. He had a few lovers in his previous lives, but not one of them could give him such pleasure in one simple kiss. He groaned as he pulled away. If he stayed there any longer it would be impossible for him to keep his promise, even though by kissing her he had technically broken it, but seeing as he hadn't done anything more he considered it all right. But that didn't change how he so desperately wanted to kiss her again. He shook the thought away. She would defiantly try to kick the crap out of him if she knew what he had done, and he didn't want to risk making her mad. After all, she would never trust him again. He sighed and lay back down away from her, trying to make some sense of his thoughts. Could he really ever have a relationship with her, regardless to the fact that she wasn't a shaman? To him it seemed hypocritical. Why bother trying to destroy humans if he wanted one as his queen? But then, she did think differently... and it wasn't as if she grew up around humans to start behaving like them. In truth she was more animal than human in some ways. And hell, he was sure to become shaman king, and a king didn't have to explain his decisions to anyone.

Kaiyou shivered and subconsciously moved close to him, nuzzling into his chest. Hao smiled, and decided not to dwell on his thoughts any longer as he wrapped an arm around her, hugging her to him. He noticed the light smile curving her lips, before closing his eyes and resisting the urge to kiss her once again.

**Well that's it for this chapter, next 1 will be up in a moment =] **


	9. Chapter 9 uncomfortable

**Chapter 9- Uncomfortable**

As the sun hit the horizon the next morning, brightening the sky with delicate hues of orange and pink that shone through the shadow of the treetops, Kaiyou awoke from her slumber. Feeling slightly groggy and stiff, she tried to stretch out in her usual wolf-like manner, but realized two things. First, she wasn't in the usual animal form she was used to waking up in, and secondly, someone was holding her in place. When she felt the weight of the arm resting at her waist, she felt the growl springing from her throat, but forced it back when she noticed who the arm belonged to. Hao lay silently beside her, still locked in the realms of sleep. The cocky smirk that usually inhabited his face had been swept back into a calm mask. For once, Kaiyou was able to see him clearly, without feeling somewhat threatened by his power. His gentle breath came out slow and steady, fanning her cheek with warmth. A loose flicker of dark hair fell across his face, and she found herself brushing the strand behind his ear, sighing to herself as her hand hovered there for a moment, before dropping it to her side. Everything seemed different to her. The harsh survival instincts so deeply etched into her being were somehow beginning to weaken around Hao, and it defiantly worried her. She shook her head, as if she could throw her confusing feelings from her mind and begin to act normally again- or at least what was normal to her- but the feeling stayed. A frown formed deeply into her brow, and her eyes blazed like frozen fire. She couldn't stay there any longer, she knew the longer she did the softer she would get, and that was not something she was going to let happen. But she also knew that she wouldn't be able to stay away for long, Hao would find her. She sighed, trying not to wake him up, she lifted Hao's arm form her waist and slipped out of the tent, changing into her wolf form as she did so. She would just hunt, something familiar to sweep away the confusion before she came back to face it all again. Lifting her muzzle to taste the air, she recognised the familiar sent of moss from the west and realized there was a forest close by, just as she had hoped. Silently, she sprang off in that direction, her feet barely skimming the sand as she ran. For a normal wolf it would have been difficult to run; contently sinking into the sand and falling over, but with her enhanced speed and agility the desert was little more than a slight hindrance to her. And luckily it was still pretty early in the morning so the heat wouldn't be unbearable.

Hao awoke not long after kaiyou had left, sensing that her presence was gone he immediately sat up and scanned the surrounding area for a familiar thought pattern. It took a while longer than he had expected, but eventually he found her a few miles west. Because she was so far away it was hard to hear what she was thinking, but he could tell that she was concentrating hard, so from that he guessed that she was hunting and didn't bother chasing after her. She would come back. Instead he walked outside to be greeted by his followers.

"Hao-sama! Did Hao-sama sleep well?" Opacho asked, running over to him. He smiled down at her.

"Yes thank you Opacho." He replied.

"Hao-sama, where is Kaiyou-Chan?"

"She's out hunting, don't worry she'll be back soon." He said, laughing slightly as he noticed the majority of the camp shudder when they hear the 'hunting' part. Clearly they couldn't get Kaiyou's pervious meal out of their heads.

Kaiyou came back to camp in the form of a desert mouse, tunnelling her way under the sand to get out of the harsh heat of the late morning. It took her longer than she thought it would to find a suitable prey, most of which were hiding from the sun, and so it took longer for her to get back. But when she did she swiftly transformed into a fish and dived into the oasis lake to cool off. Hao, noticing her arrival, wondered over to the water's edge and sat down.

"Have fun on your little trip?" he asked once she had morphed into a fennec fox and waded onto dry land.

"_Yes." _Was her simple reply, before she shook the water from her fur and began cleaning behind her overly sized ears. Neither of them spoke for a moment, and Hao wondered what to say next. He didn't want to tell her how he had somewhat broken the promise by kissing her while she slept, nor did he want to hide his new found feelings for the shape shifter, whatever those feelings may be. Kaiyou on the other hand had conveniently let her mind go blank, not letting on any thoughts of how she had found herself in his embrace when she woke up, or giving any indication on the confusion she was having with herself. But in the end it was Hao who was the first to speak.

"We will be moving camp again soon, somewhere closer to patch village. I presume you know of the shaman tournament."

"_Yes I do."_

"Good. Be ready to leave by sunset." And with that he stalked back off into his tent. Kaiyou stared after him, wondering what was wrong, but then shrugged it off. She wasn't going to go poking her nose into other people's business, especially when that person was likely to burn her nose off if she did. Besides, she hated it when people tried to do it to her.

It troubled her, now more than ever, that her thoughts were no longer private, especially with the sudden confusion of her mind. She needed time to think some more, somewhere she could be alone and relax; to let her guard down just for a while. Hao had said sunset, that meant she had at least six hours before they left. Till then she would leave, just for long enough to correct her jumbled thoughts. If she remembered rightly there was quite a nice clearing in the forest she had entered earlier, perhaps she could go there for a while and then come back before they headed out.

Hao meanwhile was listening in on her thoughts once again, and knew of her plan to get some time alone. He hadn't meant to listen, but without being able to control his own mind reading ability he couldn't help but over hear what she was thinking. He wasn't fond of the idea of her leaving, even if only for a while. The fact that she was leaving to get some peace meant that she was uncomfortable around them. Around him. And although they had already discussed this the night before he still felt uneasy about it. What if she decided she didn't want to come back? He heard her now, making her way past his tent. Her footsteps were almost silent on the soft sand, and slowly she stopped for a moment outside his door, the small figure of the fennec fox shadowing on his tent.

'_I'm going away for a while…but I'll be back before we leave.' _Kaiyou thought, knowing very well that he was listening in. she didn't blame him for it though. She would never blame him for something he couldn't help.

Hao didn't reply because there was nothing to say. He could tell her no, and that she had to stay, but then their relationship would go straight back to how it started. She would resent him for tying her down, and he would get frustrated with her constant lip. No, if this was going to work out, whatever 'this' was, he would have to give her the space she needed, no matter how much he hated it.

He heard the familiar cracking of bones as she shifted, and then she was gone, tunnelling under the sand towards the thin expanse of trees miles away, putting the distance between them.

**Well that's it for now guys. Hopefully I'll be able to update again in a couple weeks. It would be sooner since I have recovered from my writers block but sadly my evil teachers in school have set the deadlines for all of my course work all within the same week so I'm going to have to work my butt off for the next 2 weeks =[ anyway, please review! I love to hear your comments =]**


	10. Chapter 10 Who?

**Wooooooooow...there is absolutely no excuse for my laziness in uploading this story, so for that I'm so sorry! But thank you to everyone who reviewed, supported and nagged me to continue, cuz without you guys I probably would have forgotten about it completely XP **

**On a slightly different note, whats up with the new fanfic? Totally confused me at first, and then I realized we could upload cover pics! COVER PICS! HELL YEAH! I gotta say, I've actually had pictures for all my stories hidden away on my laptop, so it's great that I get to use them! It's just a pity that they have to be so small and awkwardly shaped =/ Just so everyone knows all Images uploaded here are done from scratch by me =D and even if they aren't perfect I'm very proud of them =]**

**Any who, enough of my dribble, on with the story!**

**Chapter 10**

Kaiyou rested her small serpent head on the warm rock and her forked tongue flicked out appreciatively. She wasn't sure why she hadn't thought to turn into a snake sooner, being cold blooded made it a lot easier to withstand the heat even if her body was still black, and she had a pretty good defence if someone tried to attack her. One bite and they would b paralyzed or dead, she wasn't quite sure seeing as she had never tested it on anyone. Not having arms was a little weird though, she wasn't going to get used to that in a hurry. Maybe being a snake wasn't the best idea after all. Oh well, it wasn't as if she needed them right now, so instead of worrying about it she stretched herself out over the rock and basked in the sun.

It was nice to get some alone time again, even if she knew it wouldn't last. Her thoughts involuntarily drifted back to Hao, and she found herself scowling. It was irritating how much she found herself thinking of him. Things were so much simpler when she was alone, but now she was stuck following him around for reasons she didn't know. The most annoying thing was that she no longer seemed to mind it. That didn't mean that she trusted his followers, and she sure wasn't going to do anything unreasonable on his behalf. He must know that, so what did he want? The question confused her to no end. She was growing soft too, she could feel it. Before she had met him she would have only done what suited her, and now she seemed to be thinking about other people's feelings before her own. It just wasn't right, but she just couldn't think of a way to fix it. As much as she might not like it there was no way to reverse her strange new feelings.

She heard rather than saw the bird swooping towards her in a rush of wind with its claws outstretched, and before she had time to move the creature had snatched her up and taken off into the air again. She dangled helplessly in its claws in shock, the sharp points digging into her stomach painfully. Maybe she was right in thinking that changing into a snake wasn't the best of idea's. Lounging so openly hadn't helped her chances either. She was high above the tree tops now, looking out over the expanse of dry land surrounding them. In the far north she could see the small white shapes of the tents from camp beside the pool of water, which amusingly the bird was flying in the direction of. There was a large red cliff face right beside the camp, no doubt that was where this bird was nesting. Rather than escaping right away she decided to stick out this free ride, from the suns position she guessed it was about four, so she would have needed to leave soon anyway. The thought was a bitter one, but she pushed it aside in favour of enjoying the view, even if the bird's claws were digging rather uncomfortably in her gut. She could defiantly appreciate what a good flyer this bird was, because the camp was approaching much faster than she had expected. Just before the bird went to veer off to the right, Kaiyou shifted, her bones crunching into place and her skin stretching to reform her arms and legs as she turned back into her large wolf form. As she had expected, the bird was unable to hold onto the suddenly heavy load, and with a screech of surprise it dropped her, and she went plummeting down to the ground. She changed quickly once again, this time into the form of a raven, and swooped back up, flapping her wings hard to keep her airborne until she was able to fly comfortably into camp.

To no surprise, Hao was waiting not a little distance away, a smirk plastered across his face.

"Have some trouble?" He asked, though it was clear he already knew about the bird that had tried to take her off for dinner, and not in the good way.

She frowned at him, clicking her beak in annoyance. He gestured for her to come to him, holding out his arm like a bird tamer. She went, grudgingly, and then gripped his arm a little harder than she needed to with her sharp claws. He didn't complain, and instead lifted his free hand to touch at her stomach. She didn't notice it until then, but she was bleeding from where the bird had held her, and she winced uncomfortably.

"Keep still." Hao murmured, and then a faint glow shone around his hand, and a moment later her pain was gone.

'_How did you do that?' _She thought to him in surprise, slightly wishing she was in a secure enough place to change and inspect her healed wounds more fully.

"I'm a shaman." He replied simply.

'_Can all shaman heal like that?' _she found herself asking curiously.

"Only the strong ones."

She nodded, going thoughtful for a moment. _'Wait, if you can heal then why didn't you heal when I clawed you that time?'_

Hao shrugged, "I didn't think of it."

'_...You're an idiot.' _

He smirked, but didn't bother to respond and instead lowered her to the ground, where she obediently hopped off of his arm and turned to look up at him expectantly.

"I'll be going to make myself known to a certain individual soon. I want you to come with me. Can you change into something a little more... impressive?"He asked.

She narrowed her beady bird eyes at him suspiciously _'Why?'_

"Would you rather I left you here and order Billy to watch you?"

'_No.'_

"Then I don't see the harm in taking you with me."

She scowled at him in annoyance, but nodded none the less, and for a moment Hao was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to get her to do what he wanted. Apparently letting her run off for some alone time had been useful after all. And then the sound of her bones clicking into place brought him back from his thoughts and his smile dropped. She sat in front of him, her small nose twitching and her large ears held high. He could hear the laughter of her thoughts.

'_Is this impressive enough for you?' _she mocked, perching herself up onto her hind legs and holding her paws up to her chest.

She was a rabbit. A small, black rabbit.

Hao frowned, "Not funny."

'_Seemed funny to me.' _She replied with a laugh, and when he glared at her she rolled her eyes, _'Alright alright, no need to get grumpy I'll change.'_

A few seconds later Kaiyou had changed into her favourite wolf form, even though the daytime sun was near unbearable with the thick fur that came with it.

'_Better?'_ She asked.

Hao nodded and called for Opacho, who quickly scuttled to his side, a large smile plastered across her face. Kaiyou looked on in confusion.

'_Why is the kid coming?'_ she asked, forgetting that said kid was also able to hear her.

"Opacho always goes with Hao-sama." The child chirped happily.

The wolf-girl was curious, but didn't bother to question it further. It wasn't her business why the strange fire shaman thought it was suitable to drag a child along on his little trips. Without another word passing between the three of them, but with all understanding Kaiyou's thoughts, Hao summoned the flames and teleported them away from the camp.

When the flames died down and her feet met solid earth again, Kaiyou took in her surroundings and realized that not all that much had changed. To her dismay they were still stuck in the desert with the sun beating down harshly against her dark fur, except this time there was nowhere for her to escape the heat. The terrain was rocky and hot under her paws, and only a few dry shrubs poked out of the ground at random intervals. In front of them however, was a rather large cliff face much like the one beside their camp, only this one had an entire town carved into the rock. How people had ever managed something so fantastic was incredible, and Kaiyou couldn't help but wonder what kind of people had made it their home, though it was clear to her that it was deserted now. She went to step forward, led both by the assumption that it was where they were going and her own curiosity, but to her mild disappointment Hao didn't go to follow, and simply sat himself down on a large rock.

"We'll wait here. She should be here soon." He said, and Opacho merrily hopped over to where he sat and stood beside him.

Kaiyou frowned, but slowly padded over beside the little girl. _'She? You got a secret girlfriend you never cared to mention or something?' _she asked nonchalantly as she sat down and lifted her hind leg to scratch behind her ear.

Hao smirked, "She is my brother's fiance'."

'_You have a brother?' _she thought with a start and sitting up sharply in surprise. Somehow it had never occurred to her that the fire shaman might have a family, he had certainly never mentioned them. In a strange way it made her feel a little lonely.

Before she could really think on the matter, the faint sound of a helicopter heading in their direction reached her ears, and she looked up to the small black speck in the sky. Both Hao and Opacho did the same, alerted to its presence by her thoughts.

Slowly, as the black speck began to take shape the closer it came and the sound of its spinning rotors met all of their ears, Hao began to smirk with a glance at Kaiyou out of the corner of his eye.

'_This should be interesting.'_

**Okay, I will admit that this was actually supposed to be part of a larger chapter, but by the time I got this far I realized that it had been FOREVER since I last updated and many of you have been messaging me to continue. As such, I figured it was better to upload what I had now than to make you all wait any longer for the rest. Amusingly it is still at about the same word count that I'm used to uploading for this story so I suppose it was for the best. Any who, I promise I won't take as long to upload the next chapter! And I'm sorry if this one is a little disappointing =/**

**Review it you want, I love to hear what you think =D**


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